Bedtime Stories
by mml005
Summary: Suyin Beifong, when her children were young, made a point each evening to read to them before tucking them in for the night. Takes place the night an eight-year-old Kuvira arrived in Zaofu.


Time seemed to move at half its normal speed. Echoing voices called out from every direction. Images moved in ways she was not used to; they did not seem to be permanent, but were rather ever-changing alterations of themselves. She heard her name from various voices arrive at her in all directions.

Everything seemed to spin alongside her confusion and abandonment. A young Kuvira brought her knees to her chest, embracing them with her arms. She buried her face into her knees, hoping the voices would leave her alone.

"Kuvira," the one familiar voice caught her attention. She lifted her head, eyes wide.

"Mom?" Kuvira could hardly speak. Her throat became tight as her cheeks turned warm.

"I'm here, sweetheart," the voice responded, but this time from behind the girl.

Kuvira looked over her shoulder. Her mother's memorable hair seemed to flow in the breeze. It glittered in a sunlight that otherwise did not exist. The slight graying Kuvira had remembered was gone; it was the same color as the girl's, and full of body and life. Her back was turned to her, hiding her face, but Kuvira knew it was her mom. Finally, she had come back to take her home.

"Mom!" She got to her feet and took off running towards the figure. "I missed you so much!" Tears from an overwhelming happiness welled in her young eyes.  
"I've missed you, too, sweetheart," she replied, although this time it seemed to be farther away.

No matter how fast or far Kuvira ran, she was stuck in the same place. It seemed to be the more she tried reaching her mother, the further from each other they became. The back of the figure slowly faded into the distance.

"Mom!" She called out. Her throat tightened more. Her tears shifted from delight to loneliness.

No response.

"Mom!" Kuvira tried again, looking in all directions. The voices had stopped. She was in a dark place, no floor or ceilings. Nothing seemed to exist anymore.  
She awoke from the terrifying nightmare in nearly an instant. She flung her upper body up and off her pillows. Breathing heavily, Kuvira noticed her forehead had beaded in a cold sweat. Looking all around, she was still in an unfamiliar location. Zaofu was supposed to her new home. But not even a day had passed since she had first arrived, so it felt the most distant from home.

Kuvira noticed the clothes Suyin had given her earlier in the day were still on her, despite just waking up from a deep sleep. Even the heavy metal necklace was still clasped behind her neck. She looked at the small decorative clock on the nightstand beside her new bed. It told her the night was still young. Had she just been so exhausted and overwhelmed, she forced herself to sleep most of the day away?

Kuvira slowly opened her tall bedroom door, looking for the nearest person. At the end of the hallway, she found a door slightly opened. A bright light appeared in the doorway. The closer she approached the room, she started to hear light laughter. She wrapped her fingers around the small of the door, slightly hiding from sight of the others. Peaking from behind, Kuvira saw the large Beifong family together under a reading light.

She noticed Suyin, firstly. A large picture book rested in her hands. She acted as though she had read the book endless times, for she glanced at each of her children at least once during every page. Her voice was animated, and it shifted from an engaging narrative to the various characters with unique voices. In the bends of both her arms, a very young pair of twins slept. Both were tightly bundled in soft, warm blankets. Directly at her side, Suyin's only daughter gazed at the drawings in amazement through large, tired eyes. She rested her head on her mother's shoulder, deeply engaged in the storytelling. Kuvira only slightly remembered her. She was most definitely younger than Kuvira, but not nearly as much as the twins had been. Kuvira remembered telling herself she liked the other girl's name; however she could not get herself to retain what it was. She found it difficult recalling all of Suyin's children's names.

Near Suyin's knees was a boy with hair almost as long as Kuvira's, which was just passed her shoulders. He lay on his stomach, and rested his head in his hands. Opposite the girl, the oldest boy rested on the other side of his mother. Glasses inched towards the edge of his nose, and his eyes scanned the pages as he followed his mother's reading.

The room felt warming from behind the door. They all seemed to glow in the various green fabrics, under the single light. An overwhelming feeling of togetherness, awe, and exhaustion were shared among the six of them. Kuvira remembered her mother reading to her before tucking her into bed for the night. She yearned for another chapter read to her. She needed the familiar voice to be heard again.

A young Kuvira sighed deeply, feeling warm tears form in her eyes again. She let go of the door and slowly made her way back to her own room. When she reached the edge of the light Suyin's room had casted, Kuvira turned around for one last look. She did not want to impede on their nightly tradition, despite her broken heart needing something to fix it. Pouting her lips, and eyes glistening more, she sighed again and looked at her feet.

She entered her dark room. It seemed a lot colder than what she had remembered. She fumbled around, looking for a small light source. Suyin had given her a small rod that creates light with the press of a button. She turned the light on, and opened the drawer in her nightstand. The only thing held inside was an old book, the one her mother had most recently read to her.

Crawling back underneath the covers, she brought her knees to chest. The opened book rested on her legs, and the light lay on her shoulder, showing brilliantly on the pages. She read aloud to herself, once her tears had subsided. Kuvira tried to mimic Su's vibrant reading voice.

Despite her mother not being nearby, and feeling distant from the Beifong family, who were just down the hall, Kuvira felt comforted. Zaofu was her new home, and she would have to accept it. That, she decided, was what her mother was trying to tell her in her dream not too long ago.

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you all enjoyed this short one-shot! In case it was not clear, this occurred the day Kuvira first arrived to Zaofu. Ages of the Beifong kids have not been confirmed by Bryke, so for this I assumed this: Kuvira and Baatar are 8, Huan is 6, Opal 3, and the twins would be only 1 or 2.

Don't be afraid to rate and review (:


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